Most embarrassing moment to date

[William Brooks]

I now have suffered my most embarrassing moment with my PT175 while at the boat ramp. I was getting ready to load my boat on the trailer while a Ranger with a 200hp was unloading his boat just to my right. It was about a 10-15 mph wind day so I lined up the boat just left of the trailer as I approached to allow for the wind. As I neared the trailer I cut back to idle speed and the motor died. Before I could restart the wind blew me right between the trailers and I beached it on the ramp after just slightly bumping the Ranger trailer; I think I said something cool like "OOPs" but I know my face was as red as my sunburn; thank goodness I trimmed up enough to miss striking the prop. Any body got a story that would help heal my ego!

 

[Donald Fruge]

You mean you couldn't get the Merc to crank right back up?

That seems odd......LOL



When in a situation like that holding the chock key in and counting to 10 really seems kinda silly doesn't it! LOL



Hey don't sweat that little incedent. If you boat enough you will goof something up from time to time. Its inevitable. That guy in the Ranger has probably done worse I promise.



I am going night fishing tonight,

I'll let you know if I top your story LOL



Wolf

 

[fatrap]

About fifteen years ago I was camping fishing at a local lake and the guy camping next to me and I were talking boats. He casually looked behind me and said something like "Looks like some idiot forgot to tie up his boat" Down on the lake a boat was towing an unoccupied aluminum bassboat up to the campground area,it was mine. It apparently got loose and floated off while I was BSing with my neighbor.

fatrap

 

[Larry Harp]

Not boating or fishing related but I'll never forget the day I locked my one year old daughter in the car. I had put her in her car seat, turned on the A/C, then hit the power lock to unlock the drivers side.... only I hit lock instead of un-lock. Got a coat hanger from the store we had been at....no help. Called my wife at work..... she didn't have a key to my car. Called AAA..... they said 1 to 2 hour wait for a locksmith and suggusted I call the police. Called the police.....they told me to call the fire dept. (This was prior to 911 service) ANYWAY, the police, the fire truck, and my wife all show up at the same time. The firemen had a slim jim and before a crowd of about 25, rescued my daughter from her air conditioned trap and her idiot father.

My wife insisted on driving her home.



Harpo

 

[Kenny Lively]

About 20+ something years ago, when I was fresh out of high school, myself and a buddy went fishing on a lake here in East Texas. He had an old '67-'68 model chevy stepside p/u, standard transmission. I had a tin boat w/25 'rude on it. Well from time to time, not often, but somtimes, his shift linkage on his old truck would get stuck between gears, and you would have to crawl under it and beat on it to release it. Well, you guessed it, it stuck on the boat ramp between reverse and 1st. It was a 1 lane ramp! We had to get under it, in the water, trucks lineup, getting pretty aggrivated. What made things worse is that the water was a little high, and and the wind was blowing right into the ramp, also several boats had already put in and when they took off the waves along with the wind would nearly wash you out from under the truck. The only thing that didn't go wrong was that it was warm weather. I'll never forget it. It took about 15 mins to get it unstuck, between the waves almost drowning you and the folks blowing there horn. It was terrible. KENNY

 

[Kim Becker]

Two years ago, I was returning to load my boat at a VERY busy ramp. I beached my boat,got my truck, and expertly backed between two other trucks to load my boat. While about 20 people watched in pure awe how expertly I backed the truck down the ramp and drove right onto the trailer

I proceeded to lean over the front to hook up the winch and did a full header arse over head into the water. Top that one guys !!!

 

[Lon Weekly]

Yesterday I went to a local lake early to beat the heat and fish some topwater. I got there at 6:00 and was happy to see that no one else was there yet. All to myself!



I unhooked the boat buckles and the winch hook, and tied my usual rope (nylon) between the trailer and the boat. Backed right down, stepped on the brakes to let the boat slide off, and POP! the rope broke. The water was so calm that the boat drifted way out to where I was going to have to swim for it.



Fortunately, another boat showed up about 20 minutes later and took me out to it. That guy understood, he'd had the same thing happen 6 weeks ago.



BTW, I did get a couple of small ones on topwater and 4 between 2 and 3 pounds on a worm. Well, off to replace the rope with 1/2" cotton type.

 

[Carlos Hathcock III]

Lon,

I did the same thing. Was a nice early launch, all by myself, put the boat in the water, watched in the rear view mirro as the boat floated off the bunks and keep going. I threw the truck in park, jumped out into the water and got the rope just as the water was gettign close to my hips. I now double check, triple check the rope tie off.



Carlos

 

[Larry Harp]

Jighead,

I do it that way to keep from getting my little tootsies wet--especially in the winter. Can't say how those other guys do it, but I back it off on the rope with the rope hooked to the strap. I back it off fast enough to get it going out pretty good then jump out, unhook the rope and run around to the dock and herd it in. Works great UNLESS the wind is blowing into the ramp. Getting the boat out of the water without getting my feet wet is the real trick. I envy you guys that drive a pickup so you can step right from the bow to the bed.

Harpo

 

[Mike Levesque]

Last year, our first with the boat, I took my youngest daughter(13) and youngest son(7), (my fishin' buds) to a local lake, she's the official rope holder, and walks alongside the boat and ties up to the dock when the boat floats off the trailer while I hurry and park, the little guy just looks around for stuff to get into and explore while we launch/load.... so we went, and launched no problem, but when time came to load up, her job is to wave to me if I get trailer wheels too close to the edge of the ramp, (it's shallow and you have to back in pretty far) there's a sign on the dock that says ramp ends here, so she stops me just before it and it's still real shallow and sometimes tough to load up, so sure enough she does HER job, but me? Naw, I think I'll squeeze another couple inches out of it, BANG, trailer wheels plop right off the ramp, so anyway it's myself, 2 shore fishermen that just happened to be nearby, and another guy that had just loaded up and saw what happened, to get it lifted back onto the ramp......... while another good samaritan jumps in and slowly creeps the van forward until the wheels are back on the ramp.....after thanking everyone, and stopping the little guy from crying, (he thought we were gonna lose the boat, trailer and van to the lake) and reassuring my daughter it wasn't her fault, we loaded up, went to pull out, and all the while there was some park ranger or something standing there watching the whole thing, grinnin', he said it happens at least a couple times a week.... the whole thing took maybe 5 minutes tops, thanks to those that helped out, but it felt like hours, and on a cool breezy day, when we left I was drenched with sweat and red as a beet..... egMike

 

[Lon Weekly]

I use the rope to let the boat go a couple of feet off the bunks. I then walk out on the trailer tongue, climb onto the boat, untie the rope and then drive over to the dock, walk back and drive my vehicle out.



It's worked smoothly for years but I obviously need a new rope.

 

[Bob G.]

Ben,



That's the funniest thing I read all day!! Sorry that you had a bad day, but it made me laugh!!



Bob G.

 

[Staci Matheis]

OK, Bill..... If it'll make you feel any better..... Here's a story I posted a couple of years ago after Marke had his first blunder with his new boat.....







My story goes back about 25 years and involves my old friend Ken.......



He had just bought a small used run-about and we decided to take it to the nearest body of water to test it out and do a little fishin'...... We hooked it to the back of his DATSUN 240Z (Ken was always SO proud of that car!) and headed for the Mississippi about 50 miles north of St. Louis.



We got there without incident. Motored around for a few hours without incident. Fished without incident. And got back to the ramp without incident. Man! We were a couple of Old Salts!



Ken backed his DATSUN 240Z and trailer down the gravel ramp and dunked the trailer in the water. I motored the boat onto the trailer. Ken attached the strap and started to pull out. For some reason, that I have since forgotten, half way up the gravel ramp, Ken decided to stop the car, shut off the motor put it into gear and come back to the boat........



All of a sudden, boat, trailer AND PRIZED DATSUN 240Z start a backslide! I was closest to the open driver's door so I jump in...... I try to stand on the brakes to stop it - but it was sliding on the gravel! Son-of-a-gun had momentum now! Slides all the way down until the water level was WELL above the door sill! Filled the entire cockpit with Mississippi River water!



The boat was floating now - and so was the trailer! They cocked sideways in the current! I managed to get the PRIZED DATSUN 240Z started - glass pack mufflers don't sound nearly as threatening when submerged! But we couldn't get the PRIZED DATSUN 240Z out! It was too gosh darn heavy with all that water and the gravel was too loose!



While I sat there keeping the motor running (and glass packs gurgling) Ken ran to find help...... He came back with a guy in a van and a tow rope who managed to pull us out.



On the drive home, we sat in wet seats, rested our feet on soaked carpet, smelled Mississippi River Water Mud Bottom...... And wondered why the water temperature guage was running so hot.......



Back at Ken's home we unhitched the trailer and proceeded to strip the PRIZED DATSUN 240Z of all it's interior - WITHOUT letting his wife see what was happening! It was then that we noticed that, even without the trailer attached, the PRIZED DATSUN 240Z was squatting low in the rear.......



Back there, we discovered the reason for the engine running so hot...... Ken didn't carry a spare tire....... The well that would normally hold the spare was FILLED with water! By this time, we were both exhausted and had no desire to sit there and bail it out....... Ken grabbed a long screw driver and a hammer. Stuck the pointy end into the bottom of the well and struck a blow! Water streamed out the newly formed hole in the body of Ken's PRIZED DATSUN 240Z!



Boat was quickly sold.



Car never was the same!







I sent Ken a copy of the story..... He claimed that, with advanced age, my memory of the actual events had clouded..... His version was:



"You left out the best part of the boat story! Let me refresh your memory.



"You drove the boat up on the trailer; I parked the z-car, engine off, set the parking brake. The parking brake cable snapped, and the car went glug-glug-glug with each compression stroke lost, it went further & further down the boat ramp. I had got out to winch the boat up on the ramp; fell off the trailer with the first glug. Got back in fast & hit the brakes; started it up, & tried to get back up the boat ramp - no luck. The car was too far down & the rear wheels were really in the slippery stuff and the trailer wheels were off the ramp entirely. You parked the boat, ran to get help; We tied the ski rope around the rear hitch of a suburban or something, and around the tie down hoo

 

[Bruce Freeman]

ME: When you said he poked a hole in the floor where there spare goes I was waiting on the part about the gas tank...

BF

 

[Travis Smith]

When i was about five years old (many moons ago) about 10 years ago my grandpa and i wnet fishing one night and i was to hold the rope while he backed the boat into the water. He had the trailer in the water and the boat was floating like normal....then i heard a crack!!! It was the clip that held the rope to the boat...it broke ant the boat was floating into the wild blue yonder and my grandpa stopped in his tracks and and went for a little swim...up to his neck to get the boat.





It was quite funny and ill never forget that.







T.S.